origins

• What is Wilhelm Wundt's background?

  After studying medicine, he worked as a physiologist at Heidelberg University and later at Leipzig University.
• When did Wilhelm Wundt publish the first book on psychology and what was it called?

  1873: 'Principles of Physiological Psychology
• What did Wilhelm Wundt do in 1879?

  Opened the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany
• What was Wilhelm Wundt's approach to psychology?

  To study the structure of the human mind, by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements
• What was Wilhelm Wundt's approach known as?

  Structuralism
• What process did Wilhelm Wundt develop?

  Introspection
• What is introspection?


  A systematic analysis of one's own conscious experience
• How are experiences analysed?

  In terms of their component parts; this is known as 'structuralism
• What are the parts that are analysed?

  Elements like sensation, emotional reactions etc
• People were trained to do this analysis to ensure what?

  To make the data objective rather than subjective
• What were people presented with in introspection?

  Standardised sensory events like a metronome and asked to report their reactions
• Wundt had a focus on mental processes through introspection. This can be seen as a forerunner of what?

  The cognitive approach
• Wundt had a focus on mental processes through introspection. This can be seen as a forerunner of the cognitive approach. How does this demonstrate that Wundt did have a role in the emergence of psychology as a science?


  As his methods were used as a basis of one the scientific approaches that exists today.
• Name a researcher that has used introspection in recent times.

  Griffiths (1994)
• What did Griffiths (1994) do?

  Used introspection to study the cognitive processes of gamblers. He asked them to 'think aloud' whilst playing a fruit machine
• What did Griffiths (1994) find?

  That gamblers used more irrational verbalisations.
• How does Griffiths (1994) demonstrate that Wundt did have a role in the emergence of psychology as a science?

  As his methods are still used in scientific research today.See an expert-written answer!We have an expert-written solution to this problem!
• What did Wundt have difficulty with?

  Replication
• Why did Wundt have difficulty with replication?

  Due to the subjectivity of introspection
• Wundt had difficulty with replication due to the subjectivity of introspection. How does this demonstrate that Wundt did not have a role in the emergence of psychology as a science?

  His methods do not adhere to important scientific principles such as replication and reliability.
• How else did Wundt violate scientific principles?

  Wundt's methods were highly subjective. This is in contrast to the objectivity of the scientific process.
• How does Wundt's subjective methods demonstrate that Wundt did not have a role in the emergence of psychology as a science?

  As his methods do not adhere to important scientific principles such as objectivity